Update from John: So, apparently, the Auburn Tigers greet each other by yelling "War Eagle." Yeah. But we Trekkers are the weird ones. Anyhoo, so I suppose if you want to get all technical and correct about it, that cake is not a Wreck. But, it's too late to take it down. And we're tired. And it's Friday. So, we're all moving on. Right? [meaningful look at commenters] Right. We're moving on.

As a soon to be Auburn grad (May 11th can't come fast enough!) I can tell you that War Eagle is indeed a slogan at the school. The wreck of the cake is that it exists! I may be a soon-to-be Auburn grad, but I'm not an Auburn fan :D

Being a loyal University of Alabama fan and graduate, the War Eagle cake is a wreck just because it has something to do with state rival, Auburn University. My husband, an Auburn graduate, might beg to differ. Roll Tide!

Thanks for your GREAT blog that makes me laugh everyday!!! Keep up the good work!

Um, except for the cake board being a tad sloppy theres nothing wrong with B. Auburn is a university in Southern Alabama, slogan is War Eagle even though their mascot is the Tiger, much like University of Alabama's is Roll Tide where their mascot is the Elephant.

War Eagle is the Auburn Uni. of Alabama's "war cry", just like "War Tide" is the Alabama University's. What makes it even more entertaining is that Auburn's mascot is a Tiger, and that Alabama's is an Elephant. And they are bitter rivals.

Though why didn't they use the orange and blue icing throughout is my question for number two... hmm...

I love Cake Wrecks and check it every morning to get my day going with a smile. As a huge Auburn fan I thought it was great to see the Orange and Blue represented on your blog. War Eagle Jen and Jon! I'm so happy you've learned how to speak the Tiger Lingo :)

I think B still qualifies as a wreck because A) they gave up on using Auburn colors as if they just didn't care anymore and B) the way they wrote "...Happy Birthday" seems unenthusiastic, like the person ordering the cake didn't care. Oh and C) it's an Auburn cake. Yuck.

I will give Auburn this on the "War Eagle" front, if they said "Go Tigers" everyone would get very confused when they play LSU. I know LSU spells it "Geaux Tigers", but you can't hear that when shouting at your rivals.

Normally I just lurk but since war eagle was a part of the post, and trekkers were part of the update I just thought I should mention that our household includes both Auburn fans and Star Trek fans... it is weird living here!Also, the frequency of the vulcan mating season was a trivia question last night (and we were the only team that got it right...)

yeah, i was also a little confused why "b" was a wreck. but miranda the schools are the university of alabama and auburn univeristy. alabama state university is a whole other school, whose colors are black and yellow, the hornets. but i'd prefer to say "go trojans!"

Cake number two is still a wreck, because if "War Eagle" is their battle cry or whatever then it should be in quotes. So the one time that quotes SHOULD have been used on a cake, they weren't. So it's a wreck. So there. If you notice even most of the commenters who pointed out that it is not a wreck because it's a battle cry put the words WAR EAGLE in QUOTES.

then again, I was a Nebraska alum living in the middle of Alabama, and whenever we'd get 'War Eagle'd', we would reply 'Battle Chicken!' as well, 'Roll Tide' was 'Roll o'paper'Ah, 'Bama barbecue, I miss you.

I like the fact that Jessica is an RV and not an RN. Personally, if my kid were in the hospital, I'd want them taken care of by an RN, not an RV. I mean, what is a recreational vehicle going to do for a sick kid anyway???

As an Alabamaian, I don't see a thing wrong with the 2nd cake. Yeah, it could have been a little more polished, but "War Eagle!", much like their rival, Bama ( #1! 13 nat'l championships! Wooooo!), uses "Roll Tide!" as their slogan. If you're not really familiar with SEC school culture, I guess it may not really add up. I'm sure that if someone posted a wreck about a Big10 school, I wouldn't get it.

YEE-HAW... I think I've GOT IT (And so soon!) that "WAR EAGLES!" is the battle cry of the school. I'm in goosebumps, sensing that this thing has all the earmarks of becoming the latest incarnation of the dreaded "E-word" for the next few hours... I shall brew a pot of coffee, pull up a chair, put my feet up, and doze off to await the nightmare that is inevitable... =^@.@^=

Okay, I got that out of my system. Moving on, I got an email about a new cake decorating tool:

"Introducing Cricut Cake™ — Available May 2nd for $349.99! -- The Easiest and Fastest Way to Decorate Professional-Looking Cakes -- Cricut Cake™ is an easy-to-use personal electronic cutter that precisely cuts gum paste, frosting sheets and much more! Cricut Cake™ is compatible with all Cricut® cartridges, so you'll save time and money creating perfect cakes for any occasion!"

Why do I think this will simply make the creative spelling on these wrecks more legible?

jodi said... "is it just me or on wreck 1 does it look like we are wishing saraflashmom a Slappy birthday!"=======It's just you.=^~.-^=See, a capital, cursive "S" does not go that way. This looks (if anything) more like a capital, cursive "L," which would make the whole word "Llappy." Llappy, Slappy--what difference does it make...as long as people keep paying for these wonders, they'll keep on cranking them out.The work ethic has gone the way of the Dodo bird.LUCKY US!!! (I'm serious! I love these things!)

Alrighty, I'm an Alabamian, myself, and I think #2 qualifies as being a wreck, regardless of the whole slogan thingy. The border is poorly done, the word placement is way off, and did they forget it was someone's birthday until the last minute?? That said, my 11-year old HARDCORE Auburn fan would love it, and my HARDCORE Alabama fan step-dad would hate it. Heck, Mom might get it just to see what happens. :)

While #2 cake makes perfect sense to me, since I live in Alabama and my husband is an Auburn fan...the fact that is says "War Eagle" and "Aubrun" makes it a wreck to me! ROOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLL TIDE! ROLL!

Thank you for the update John- and everyone else. I had absolutely no idea what the Auburn was about and would probably have written "War Eagles" in auburn writing myself! Good job I don't decorate cakes then!

The people that are saying the war eagle cake is a wreck because war eagle doesn't have quotations around it or because someone not familiar with the school would find it baffling----um, the cake was obviously made for someone that would understand it. It's not a wreck. The cake is cute.

Could someone explain _why_ Auburn fans yell "War Eagle" at each other? I mean, I know that it's in their fight song, but why? The name of the team is the Tigers. Auburn students/the paper are called the Plainsmen? And they yell "War Eagle" at each other? Yeah, sure, 'Bama fans yell "Roll Tide" but the name of their team is the "Crimson Tide", right?

To which I respond:Only if you care.See, I don't. So it's not confusing me...it is just ANNOYING the EARWAX outta me that I was right (I didn't want to be) about the "E-word"-like, repetetive explanations of why "War Eagle" exists. We now have a Situation, as sadly expected, in which we will War Eagle (and by some perverted association, "E-word") the living **** out of this fairly innocent and presumably well-intentioned cake.Jen & John--you two must have nerves of steel (or really good "meds")!!!heh heh =^~.~^=

It hearkens back to an old Auburn legend about a Civil War vet who rescued a baby eagle from the battlefield. Supposedly, nearing the end of a football game, Auburn was rallying to come from behind and win. The eagle (now old) launched off of his shoulder in a last effort, circled the field amid people's cries of "The War Eagle!", and died. Auburn won the game.

(There are many varied versions of the legend.)

That's why before every home game, one of our eagles is released from the upper deck and circles the field while we cheer "War Eagle!". And THAT is why the cake is not a wreck. :)

I'm an Auburn professor, and I fail to see anything wrong with the Auburn cake. "War eagle!" is our battle cry. Our students use the phrase to greet, to encourage, to congratulate, and more. "War eagle and happy birthday!" is a perfectly natural expression down here. You will rarely, if ever, see an attempt to draw an eagle to represent our battle cry. It would not convey the same message. The eagle represents learning and courage, the slogan represents community and brotherhood with one's fellow students.--KB

Are all your fans from Alabama except for me? WTF is going on around here? How can so many people know what this is? Did like one alabamian suddenly get all their friends to spam this thread or something? It is ridiculously implausible that this many of your regular readers could really know this much about such an obscure cultural reference.

@Miranda, It's Alabama, not Alabama State. But yea. Move here (like we were forced to do) and you'll want to stab yourself in the eye every time you hear "War Eagle," "WDE," "Roll Tide," anything about Bear Bryant, etc.

Hahahaha! I was clueless about how the AUBURN (War Eagle!! Hey!!!) one was a wreck.

I do have to point out that even more strange than this tradition is the one of the rival University of Alabama. Their mascot is an Elephant. Their battle cry is "Roll Tide!" (Or "Rawwel Tahd!" in the local dialect.)They have taken to decorating their heads at games with Tide laundry detergent boxes and toilet paper rolls. Cringeworthy for sane residents of the state.

I am surprised you are only one state away and aren't familiar with these phenomenons!!

BTW, Auburn has 99% more Trekkers and Trekkies than UofA. War Eagle!!Maybe I will get a "Auburn! Go Tigers! War Eagle! Aubie Rocks! Happy Mother's Day!" cake on Sunday. Alex (Auburn B.S.M.E., '89)

@Jennifer, uh... NO, "War Eagle" shouldn't be in quotes on the cake. It should be in quotes in these comments, because we are "quoting" people. But on the cake we are "saying" it. That would be like putting "Happy Birthday!"in quotes. WRONG! Rookie commenter mistake. Happy "Mother's" Day, love "Dad" :)

Rebekah, I wouldn't consider Auburn "obscure." Surely it's not well-known in some areas, but it's also not some Podunk community college. It's known across the country for its veterinary medicine, agriculture, fisheries and pharmacy programs, and its student newspaper, up until recently, was the No. 1 award-winning college newspaper in the country (stunning, I know). I'm an Auburn graduate and have traveled all over the place in Auburn gear, and it never fails that someone shouts "War Eagle!" at me. We've got alumni all around the world!

Also, to those of you who think Auburn students or graduates are spamming the site: I think not. In fact, a good half of the comments attempting to explain Auburn or its traditions contain some type of factual error. Trust me; if you've attended Auburn, you certainly don't get any of that information wrong! Those comments are obviously from well-meaning readers who have a little knowledge of the school from somewhere.

By the way, I'm a longtime reader but very infrequent commenter. Love the blog, Jen and John! Oh, and by the way ... War Damn Eagle, y'all!

LOL. I just spent ten minutes studying the second cake and decided I was just plain missing it (being a former Auburn fan myself, I just couldn't figure out where the mistake was). And then I saw the note at the end. Glad to know I haven't completely lost my mind...yet!

LOL! I am glad I'm not the only one looking at cake B and trying to figure out what I was missing! I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it! I grew up in Alabama, so the AUBURN and War Eagle looked perfectly normal on a B-day cake! :)

I just wanted you to know that it made my day to see the second cake pop up on my screen today. I am an Auburn Alum and I started laughing as soon as I saw it. I also liked the commenter that said War Eagle is a code between Auburn fans. It really is if you're not in Alabama! Anyway, thanks for making me smile today!

ok- Another Auburn grad here- it would be perfectly normal to say War Eagle to somebody and then wish them a Happy Birthday- especially if the game was on their birthday- which would make their birthday secondary....;-)

#1-That's the silliest thing I've heard in minutes.Besides, you don't really know which side the eagle("now old"--but not as old as the CIVIL WAR vet whose shoulder he was perched upon) was ROOTING for, now DO you?=^~.-^=#2-That, on the other hand, is the most logical thing I've heard ALL DAY (even though I see you've been told how *wrong* you are).

Yes, #2 is a wreck because a wreck is any cake, no matter how well-designed, that makes Jen (or John) laugh or cringe or go 'What the heck?', etc.

If you're in the 99.99% of the world who has no idea about "War Eagle" (or were before reading 9 bazillion repetitions of the same explanation) the cake definitely makes you laugh at the ridiculousness of it, especially that 'AUBURN' and 'War Eagle!' are primary and '... and Happy Birthday' (without so much as one !) is a secondary afterthought. "Yay college! Go Team! Oh, and Happy birthday, whoever you are." I mean, seriously, how many times a year does Auburn have a game? And how many times a year does our sadly anonymous (because where would you fit a name?) cake-receiver have a birthday?

So, it DOESN'T MATTER that it may very well be what someone ordered. It DOESN'T MATTER that the eagle shouldn't be drawn, just like it didn't matter that the sprinkle-less "I Want Sprinkles" cake was actually a quote and was SUPPOSED to be the text on the cake. It still makes you laugh to see it, either because one is ignorant of the esoterica of one school in one of the 50 states of one of the many nations in the world and would expect the eagle to be drawn or because one finds the sheer lack of priorities ridiculous.

It's a wreck because Jen found it funny. It continues to be a wreck because other people find it funny, too.

Ok, so I never comment but I just had to say this... To those of you who think that Auburn spamed the board today because why would so many people know about it... Auburn is an SEC school and SEC is a big deal for a large part of this country, especially in the South and you don't have to be an Auburn fan to know about it...with that said... I love the blog...read it everyday...and GO DAWGS!!! That is Georgia Bulldogs for those of you who don't know!

I LOVE this blog. I am often in tears, holding my side laughing at the post. And now, I must say I LOVE it even more after this post and finding all these fellow Auburn fans who follow this blog. We have good taste in both football and internet fun!

war eagle is the Auburn tigers war cry, it is becaue a gentlman who attenedAuburn was fighting in civil war found eagle brought back to Auburn he became mascot, hense war cry, gag me I just defended Auburn! GO GATORS!

I'm sorry, but I have to correct the people presenting the Civil War "War Eagle" story as if it's true. It's apocryphal. Some guy made it up in 1960. Before that, the story didn't exist. There are several other stories explaining it that were around before the Civil War one.

That said, I'm glad that in Georgia our mascots go along with our war cries. GO DAWGS!

" We're talking about a game played in the 1890s or so, so I fail to see what's so strange about a Civil War vet being there."-------------- My goodness--the thing I was mainly getting at was that in your version of the "legendary eagle story," 1, The eagle flies around the game and then dies. 2. Auburn wins.

My point was, "SO? Is this supposed to imply "magic"? The eagle COULD HAVE been flying overhead to rally the OPPOSING team!The legend is lacking in something more draamtic, like...How about, at the last minute, the sunlight flashed off the eagle's wings, and its feathers LIT UP in brilliant ORANGE and BLUE!!!That'd do it.=^u.u^=

I'm just piping in, but, as other people have mentioned, #2 is not incorrect. I live in Auburn, and the war cry/greeting for Auburn fans is "War Eagle!" People wear shirts with "War Eagle" written on it all the time... but very few would know what to draw if you said, "draw the War Eagle" (which happens to be a golden eagle)

Yup. #2 = Epcot revisited (just not as nicely decorated!). Now I know far more about Auburn & its mascot/slogan/competitors than I ever wanted to know. I've heard of Auburn before... but aren't too sure precisely where Alabama is!! (non-American reader here) I'm thinking that when these situations arise, there may be virtue in not posting all the comments... or just posting a summary with a list of the names.

Re Sara: now, if the birthday girl is also a Mum, then... was she trying to flash herself? That raises a whole new set of questions about just *what* she was doing ;)

And the CPEN one: I'm glad I wasn't the only one disturbed by the use of black to decorate a pediatric emergency nurse's cake. Did she escape to the RV in distress over the wreck of a cake??

haha! i was so excited to see my wreck of a cake posted today! yes, i am jessica, the "RV" -- which was actually my favorite typo on the cake as well. the only thing better than the pic of the cake would have been our faces as we all sat, puzzled, in the ER attempting to decipher the words on the cake. "RV? CPEN picture? what?!!"the cake was very tasty though, despite it's obvious short-comings....black roses and all!

thanks jen, for posting my cake. love the blog and all the commentary!

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A Cake Wreck is any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate - you name it. A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a Wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected, sugar-filled places.

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